1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates automated systems and methods for retrieving lost objects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of identification tags and reward offers is the most well known and prevalent method for returning lost objects to their owners. For example, tags may be placed on luggage, cell phones, computer equipment, or any object capable of being lost, and making it possible for the finder to locate the owner to arrange for return and possible reward by the owner to the finder.
Traditional identification tags have certain disadvantages, for example, they reveal the owner's name, address, and possibly phone numbers, causing loss of privacy and security risks. Many owners will not use identification tags which reveal their true names, etc., because the risk of unethical people misusing that discovering and misusing that information is too high.
The idea of encoding the owner's private information on an identification tag has been proposed by others, but prior methods require registering the encoded information with a third party, and for the finder to return the lost object to the third party who, in turn, returns the lost object to the owner.
Recently Lewis U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,116 has proposed using bar code labels bearing pre-identified insignia corresponding to a unique owner, and a system wherein the labels are placed on the owner's objects and the identifying data is stored on a computer at a central location, and if the object is lost and then found by a third party finder, the ownership can be determined by use of a bar code scanner and transmission of a query based on the scanned identifier to the computer at the central location.
There are certain disadvantages to bar code systems: because they are optical, obscuring of the label (or of the bar code reader lens) by exposure to dirt, dust, water, ink, or paint will make the label unreadable. Furthermore, ink bleeding, stray marks, dropouts, label warping, and label tearing are problems with bar code labels, especially when the label must stay in place and be readable for several years. A further problem is that bar codes can be copied through mechanical means such as photocopying. In addition, bar coded information cannot be erased, rewritten, or appended.
Isaacman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,527, have proposed a method and apparatus for locating and tracking documents and other objects for office files using radio frequency identification tags on the files for locating tagged documents within shelves and drawers.